RH7 WebHelp Output Missing TOC, Index, Search

I updated my RH6 HTML project to RH7 HTML. When I publish,
everything looks good. I uploaded all project files to my company's
server, and a coworker saved those files to her computer. When my
coworker publishes WebHelp from her computer, the TOC, Index, and
Search components are missing. Can anyone assist? Thank you!

Thank goodness I found this thread!
I'm having the exact same issue. I'm using version 5.0.2 of
RoboHelp, and when I generate WebHelp (the collection of HTML
files) and test it on my PC, it works fine. When I copy the files
over to my company's server, my TOC is missing, Serch is missing,
Index is missing.
I tested this with other PCs in my company, and some display
the content fine (from the server location), others don't.
I noticed that I get an error message "flash" at the bottom
of IE when I mouse over the TOC frame. It states "Load: class
WebHelp not found". I've double checked, and all of the files that
are generated on my PC are also in the same folder that I copied
over to the server.
Could RoboHelp be having issues with certian servers, or
versions of IE w/ certain servers? This doesn't seem to be a
blanket issue with all users of this information, only some.

Similar Messages

RH7 Published output missing TOC

I recently upgraded from x5 to RH7 with Server 7.
I generate WebHelp Pro content.
There are some topics in my project that are flagged "Version
2" and a few lines at the text level are also flagged "Version 2".
None of the TOC books are flagged with any build tags.
When I generate the project with the coniditional build tag
set to "Not Verion 2" (meaning it should generate all topics and
content that is not flagged version 2) -the generated output shows
the TOC - and then if I take it all the way to the publish step -
the published output does not show the TOC .
If I generate and publish with the conditional build tag
"Version 2" (basically meaning it should include all content) -
then I can see the TOC in the generated and published output.
(Side note: I also have build takes for Online and Print -
but these are rarely used and do not seem to be involved in the
problem described above.)
I am viewing the output in IE7 - but since I can see the TOC
in the generated output and not in the published output - I think
the problem is not with the browser.....

To resolve the problem I went through each topic and turned
off the Topic-Level Build Tag - then republished. I did this until
I found the file that was preventing the TOC from displaying. Then
I replaced that file.

RH8 HTML Missing TOC and Search

I've seen similar questions about this issue but none have really provided any assistance in helping me resolve this issue on my end.
Issue:
TOC and Search disappear after compiling and allowing blocked content in IE8 browser.

Hello,
I'm having a problem with similar symptoms: generated output with no TOC, Index, Search, or left pane at all. I have tried deleting the contents of my output directory (on my local drive) and re-generating the project. I also tried uninstalling my RoboHelp 9 and reinstalling it and run updates, all with no success.
There are a few other circumstances that didn't apply with my previous projects but do apply to this project:
I have attached my current project to Microsoft Visual SourceSafe 6.0 for source control.
When I right-click on Web Help Primary Layout, then choose Properties I get the following error (see picture). when I click OK, it then presumes to generate normally:
After I browse to the output location, I notice that it has altered the name of my start-up page, from Action_Basics.htm to Action_Basics_1.htm (there were no existing files in that folder as I had previously deleted all the files before generating).
I'm using RoboHelp 9 and Windows 7
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Sherry

My updated help file only opens the TOC/Index/Search

I have to update an old project that uses WinHelp, so I installed RH X5 on an old XP machine. The original help file always opened in a 2-pane window with the ToC on the left and the default topic on the right. My "updated" help file only opens the ToC/Index/Search screen in a single pane. How do I get the 2-pane window to appear?
This is what I'm looking for

I have edited the topic title. The idea is to spell out the problem in the body.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

ToC, Index, Search appearing blank in RH8 Webhelp

Hello - I have been reviewing the forum questions and answers for about a year now - some great advice - but I can't seem to find an answer to my current problem, so I need to post it here.
I have recently upgraded our help system from RH7 to RH8. I generated Webhelp this week and all was well on my local system in both IE7 and FF3. The long list of every possible number and letter which was appearing in FF in the search column had disappeared and search was behaving exactly as I hoped. Nothing else looked anything other than perfect.
I made the submission to our engineering team and when it was integrated, I tested again. IE remains fine, but in FF, we get the "welcome" page, but an empty column where the ToC should appear. Same with the index - I can enter a keyword, but I get no results. Ditto for search.
Our test and production environments are different, obviously, than my local environment - I put the Webhelp output on an Apache server and all was well. It only breaks when it goes into the production environment.
I was told to tell you that our Apache server does a rewrite rule to Weblogic (9.2.3) - where, with the exception of the UGLY search results in FF from the RH7 Webhelp, all worked well with RH7 output. Our environment hasn't changed, so we believe that we may need to change something in a config file to accommodate changes in RH8. ( We made the changes to UTF-8 as recommended in earlier posts some months ago.)
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Marla

Hi again
For the Adobe forums search, I find you have to search twice. The first search shouldl bring back some results. What you want is to get to the initial results page.
Click the image below to see at full size.
Now you see a different page.
Again, click the image to see at full size.
Hopefully this helps... Rick
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 within the day - $24.95!
Click here for Adobe Certified Captivate and RoboHelp HTML Training
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TOC, Index, Search content not loading in FireFox 3.0 +

Hi,
I have created from RH 8 a merged Webhelp system (1 master, 2 children - based on Peter Grainge's posted procedure). It works fine from IE, and on my system, from FireFox 3.0 and up.
The problem is, that when deployed at the customer's site, the TOC, Index, and Search content does not load in FireFox. All frames display (Nav, contents, and the top frame), but the content for the TOC, Index, and Search does not load.
This only happens at the customer site. The webhelp system works okay in IE.
I have checked and we are running the same javascript version, have the same security settings in FireFox set.
I looked on Peter's site and implemented the redirect fix for FireFox that he has posted, but that hasn't seemed to fix the problem.
They aren't running any special toolbars (like Google toolbar). I am checking on add ons.
Does anyone have any ideas on what else I might check or better yet what might be causing the problem?
Thank you,
Tannis

Willam
A merge will not work properly unless all the projects have been generated once. After that it should not matter that a project is missing, indeed simply not publishing one of the projects to the server is one of the features of merging making it easy to supply different customers with different content.
I wonder if the problem you saw was because that project had not been generated.
Tannis
Sorry, the reference to AIR help was because you mentioned Snippet 141 which is AIR specific. I didn't look further back in the thread.
You said that the start page of a child project opens the tripane window with the default topic but you do not get the TOC etc. That rules out the merge being the problem. I am inclined to the view that the server is the issue so get your client to load the published output from my merge demo as that is a known quantity. Ask them to open each child project in turn and then finally the merge.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Javascript error prevents TOC, Index, Search from displaying

I generated webhelp from my RoboHelp HTML project and got a javascript error (this.maCom[...]' is null or not an object) when viewing the result. See below for the full error text. As a result the TOC, index, and search do not display. The javascript error can be found in the browser status bar which indicates "Error on page." I found that if I viewed the result from robohelp, the browser that launched shows the TOC, index, and search, but has a security warning about a restriction from running scripts or ActiveX controls. However, when I move the generated webhelp to my production server, the help does not have the security warning, but does produce the error so that the TOC, index, and search do not show. I had performed the same process to generate webhelp about 8 months ago but did not have any error whatsoever. As a matter of fact, that version is still in production and works fine.
In my research of the problem, I found this is the same error as forum message 4063663 (http://forums.adobe.com/message/4063663). I didn't have a second system with RoboHelp to be able to get another whphost.js, however, I diff'd the generated file with the one found in template_stock and found only two lines different. Those differences were only replacing a couple of variables with static text so I don't think replacing this file will solve any problem for me. This was the only forum message I could find that addressed this issue.
I was originally on RoboHelp 8.0.0 when I first encountered the problem, but went ahead and patched to 8.0.2 and still had the same problem. I even created a new simple project. Once I moved the simple project to the production server, it also would not display the TOC, index, and search.
The odd thing is that just 8 months ago, I used the same process to generate (on 8.0.0) the webhelp without any error. The only thing I can come up with is there was a WinXP patch that affected the webhelp generation. By the way, I also tried this in Chrome and that also produced the error.
I'm not sure what is causing this problem or how to resolve the problem. Any one have any ideas?
Versions:
RoboHelp 8.0.2
Windows XP
IE 8.0.6001.18702CO
Chrome 18.0.1025.168 m
Javascript Error
User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.648; .NET CLR 3.5.21022; .NET CLR 3.0.4506.2152; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; MS-RTC LM 8; InfoPath.2; .NET4.0C; .NET4.0E)
Timestamp: Wed, 2 May 2012 16:32:00 UTC
Message: Object expected
Line: 344
Char: 2
Code: 0
URI: http://server1/robohelp/whphost.js
Message: 'this.maCom[...]' is null or not an object
Line: 171
Char: 3
Code: 0
URI: http://server1/robohelp/whphost.js

After further research and tests, I discovered the Security Update for RoboHelp 8 and 9 (http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb11-23.html) posted as an announcement that I had not seen before. I had used the updates feature in the product, but that said I was up to date and did not include this update.
The two javascript files in this patch solve the problem. The TOC, index, and search now display.
Update:
As I further researched the problem (while writing this response), I found files that were newer than the latest security patches I was aware of. In addition, I discovered that my security organization decided to patch with APSB12-04 without me knowing about it. This patch is why my 8.0.0 installation magically quit working. As I look at the security announcement, the bulletin did not include any prerequisites of specific versions the patch can be applied to (8.0.0, 8.0.1, or 8.0.2). Adobe, please give more information on the bulletins so that organizations that auto-deploy will be forced to know what is running before updating. Information like whether they apply to all Robohelp 8 versions or just a specific version. If APSB12-04 was meant to be applied to all 8 versions, then it did not work. It actually broke my installation of 8.0.0 for the generation of webhelp as well as subsequent installation of 8.0.1 and 8.0.2. It looks like they did a better job for APSB11-23. Maybe the security updates should be some sort of service pack that has an installation and a back-out process. Right now, my security organization has overwritten the files based on the specification in the security bulletin.
I am going to try to patch with APSB12-04 again since I have updated the base to 8.0.2 to see if I can still generate webhelp. If I can't view the TOC, I'll have to remove it once again and be "out of compliance."

RH7 HTML and IE11/TOC and search not appearing, apply RH10 fix?

Hi, thanks for taking my question. In IE11, in online help created using RH7 HTML, the TOC and Search don't appear, an issue that I know has appeared on the forum before. From a search on this forum, I see that a fix applies to RH10. (Sorry, I downloaded the files, but now can't find the post with the fix. Zip is IE11Fix_RH10.zip.) Will that fix work backwards to RH 7? Or is RH 7 completely incompatible with IIE11?
Apologies if this has been answered.

That fix is not backwards compatible. I'm afraid that IE 11 is not supported for RH7. I have backported a solution to RH9, but RH7 is just too old with too many issues to even try a fix.
The best solution would be to upgrade.
Kind regards,
Willam

TOC and Index entries sometimes blank in WebHelp output

I'm running RoboHelp 10, generating Help files using the WebHelp target.
Sometimes, in the WebHelp output, clicking a Table of Contents or Index entry restults with a bank topic. This issue is resolved my either maximizing/minimizing the screen or by refreshing the browser.
The issue does not happen consistently in the output. As well, it seems to only happen in Internet Explorer 10.
Is there a work-around for this issue?

Just installing the patches is not enough. Adobe release some smaller
fixes for WebHelp on IE10/11 and Chrome. (4 in total) For an overview of
all RH fixes, see
http://www.wvanweelden.eu/articles/robohelp-patches-and-updates
Kind regards,
Willam

Search tab malfunction in RoboHelp 8 (WebHelp output)

I am trying to create a WebHelp output after importing a Word doc into RobobHelp HTML 8. Once I generate WebHelp as the primary layout, the TOC and Index tabs work fine. However, the Search tab isn't working: Regardless of the key word I use in my search, the only result I get is a link to the imported doc (which imports as a single topic). This isn't a helpful Search function at all. What am I missing?
Thanks,
E. Johns
edjohns_dfw

I have come acoss issues being reported in adobe forums that webhelp output cannot be viewed in IE 10. Fixes are provided for Robohelp 10 @http://forums.adobe.com/community/robohelp/robohelp_webhelp?view=discussions where we are given a link with the fixes @.http://helpx.adobe.com/robohelp/kb/help-visible-using-win-8-ie.html but no fixes are available for robohelp 8. Please provide a similar fix for robohelp 8
Request the adobe development team to get back ASAP as we do not have the timeframe to upgrade to robohelp 10.

Assistance with Search Feature used in WebHelp output

Hi Friends,
I have a specific requirement. I am trying to copy and paste a few HTML files in the WebHelp output folder from an external source and display these topic in the final WebHelp output. I was successful in updating the TOC ; merged index entries and glosarry terms and definitions. The external topics appear in the WebHelp output. However, I am not able to understand how my topics can be included in the Search feature. As of now the Search option only searches for key words within the default project topics. How can I extend this search to HTML pages that I have manually copied within the WebHelp output folder?

Welcome to our community
I'm more than a bit confused here. Why are you manually copying the pages? It seems that you don't mind the pages living amongst the other WebHelp pages. So why not simply copy them into the project? That way they would be included in the search.
If for some reason that's undesirable, you might look into configuring ZoomSearch. Look at the link below for that.
Click here to view
Cheers... Rick
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Fix for WebHelp output issues with IE 11 breaks Search function

I use RoboHelp HTML 9 and have been having issues with generated WebHelp in IE 11. The TOC was totally blank and the Search tab looked fine but did not function. Everything worked fine in Firefox. After much experimenting and online research in these forums and elsewhere, I have been able to get the TOC to display properly in IE 11 (and Firefox) but the fix has caused the Search tab to stop functioning as per this other forum post RH9 Webhelp Search function is not working properly.
I need to have BOTH TOC and Search displayed and functioning properly but in order to get the TOC displayed properly I had to change the Preferred Format setting to "Pure HTML" and, according to the post mentioned above, that is what messes up the Search function. Is there a solution that will allow both TOC and Search to function properly?
Here is a summary of the steps I have taken to get to this point:
Tested WebHelp output from two different projects of my own as well as the Salesbuilder starter project - all would display/function properly in Firefox but not in IE 11 (blank TOC and non-functioning Search).
Found a "patch" for RH10 for the exact problem I was having with RH9 but was not able to find a version for RH9. Since the patch included 2 files (whutils.js and whver.js) only, I backed up these files in the RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock directory and replaced them with the new ones.
Regenerated one of my RoboHelp projects - still didn't work in IE 11 and now didn't work in Firefox either!
Tried turning on Mark of the Web but this did not help and would not allow opening PDF's which is necessary to one of the projects so I turned it off again.
Changed Preferred Format setting to "Pure HTML" instead of "DHTML" and the TOC displayed and functioned properly in IE 11 and Firefox! Hurray!!
Celebrated for 10 seconds until I clicked on Search tab and saw the input box filled with letters of the alphabet with other random letters, words, numbers below. It looks almost like an index but neither of my projects uses an index and I have not generated one in either project.
Found the post mentioned above which states that the solution is to change the Preferred Format setting back to DHTML but when I do that I am back to blank TOC and proper-looking but non-functioning Search!!!
I have now removed the Search tab from the output of one of the projects since it is not really necessary but I need to find a fix for this for my other project.
Both of my projects are run locally - one is release documentation that is distributed on a CD and the other is CSH which is loaded on the local server with the software for which it was created.
Dorothy
Note to Administrators: Sorry, but I originally posted this as a reply to a previous post - Contents, Index, & Search do not display in generated help... - so perhaps it should be removed from that thread to avoid confusion.

The "preliminary" fix provided has worked perfectly! All versions of my WebHelp project now display TOC properly and I was able to change the Preferred Format setting back to DHTML so the Search tab both displays and functions as it should. I am very grateful to William for providing this fix which works in both IE 11 and Firefox. Someday I will pursue the fixes to make it work in Chrome as well.

Large merged WebHelp system takes forever to display TOC/Index in Firefox

Hi,
We are using a merged Web Help system (RoboHelp 9). There are about 20 modules, many of which are optional. In Internet Explorer 9, it works fine and displays the TOC/Index within 10 seconds. But in Firefox 19.0, it takes a full 3 minutes to display the TOC/Index. Obviously this is unacceptable. One of our doc people did some tests and determined that when you have a merged TOC structure, but one or more of the merged projects are not actually present, Firefox seems to spend a long time waiting for it to appear. Eventually just displays the TOC without the missing projects (as it should).
Does anyone have suggestions on how to mitigate this?
Also - and I think this is an entirely different problem - I can't get the Chrome browser to display anything except the help toolbar, even for a single (non-merged) help module. Is there a security setting that I'm missing?
thanks,
Jenny Hecker

I see where Willam is going by suggesting different outputs with different combinations but I'm hoping that can be kept in reserve.
From the look of it, you are testing the help when it is installed locally rather than on a server. That could impact results. Try generating the parent first and then all of the children to a web server location. Once they have all been generated, then try removing different child folders.
I recall seeing this issue before quite a while back and I think it was when not all the children had been generated once.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Problem with hide TOC, Index ans Search

Hello,
I want to generate a chm where TOC , Index ans Search are
hide when I open my chm.
I don't find a solution to do this.
I try to find in creating a new "Window", but I doesn't
operate.
If someone have a solution, thanks to tell me,
because I'm going to loose lots of time for that...

Hi vlavergne,
In theory you should be able to hide the TOC, Index and
Search simply by selecting
Hide Nav Pane on Startup in the Window properties. However,
after a bit of experimentation it seems that you also have to
deselect the
Remember Window Size and Position option.
Hope this helps
Anne

Server/browser requirements for WebHelp output files

What are the UNIX server and browser requirements in order to
display a WebHelp project output file correctly?
When I generate the primary layout, I am not selecting 508
format, and I select Java Applet as the preferred method for the
Navigation Pane (checking the radio button for DHTML > Java
Applet > Pure HTML as the order of preference.
When viewing the help project on the UNIX server through
Mozilla, the page appears to load and reload, load and reload.
Sometims pressing Esc. stops it and you can view the TOC and
content pane. The way around this is to generate Pure HTML only,
but then the index and the glossary become very difficult to use.
Robohelp Webhelp descriptions claim to work on all platforms
and in all browser types. What requirement are we missing on our
UNIX server so the project can display correctly?
Thanks in advance for your time and trouble. :-)

Hi GEWB,
Here are some more details--
Generate Webhelp output setup:
Use lowercase filenames (recomm. for UNIX)
Toolbar buttons: Content, Index, Search
Navigation: Add breadcrumbs links
Additional options: Enable Highlight Search results, Synchronize TOC automatically
Navigation Pane preferred format: DHTML > Java Applet > Pure HTML
Optimize speed for: Web site
Q: how are you setting up your Linux to open the default project page?
A: I use Linux only to launch the webehelp output.
Q: Are you opening the GENERATED project default page or trying to open the project source files?
A: I am trying to open the generated project default page. I copy the Webhelp folder to a Linux machine and launch the index.html page to see the output.
Q: Why are you replacing the foreward-backward slash?
A: In Linux '\' is not supported for hyperlinks/filepaths. Therefore I changed the backward slashes to forward slashes.
The scenario:
When the project files have filepath such as ../../doc/xyz/,
when I view in Windows (IE)- I can access the link
when I view in Linux (FF)- I see broken link with error message somewhat like "cannot find ..\..\doc\xyz\". (Note the changed usage of slash)
This indicates that the generated files changes the forward slash to backward.

RH7 WebHelp Output Missing TOC, Index, Search

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